International Humanitarian Law Commons^™

How The Sui Generis Principle Has Been Historically Abused In International Law: From The British To The Israelis, Ahmad Hamdan

Human Rights Brief

I. Introduction

For over a century, powerful actors have used a single Latin phrase, sui generis, as a shield to evade accountability under international law. Meaning “of its own kind,” this theory dictates that a situation is so unique that ordinary rules should not apply. In international law, sui generis typically refers to situations or entities that cannot easily be categorized under existing legal frameworks or conventions. Its use indicates that there is no directly applicable precedent and that, as a result, no legal principles apply; instead, the situation itself will set the precedent. While some researchers argue that …

Stability And Accountability In Nagorno-Karabakh And The Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict, Callum Heath

Human Rights Brief

I. Introduction

On August 8, 2025, President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of Armenia were hosted at the White House by U.S. President Donald Trump to announce the Agreement on Establishment of Peace and Inter-State Relations (the Agreement) in a Joint Declaration. The Agreement sets out to end the decades-long conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Armenian ethnic enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh within Azerbaijan, and the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan, which is separated from the rest of Azerbaijan by Armenia. While the White House hails the Agreement as a “historic peace deal,” the reality is more …

‘Preventing Births’ As A Gender-Neutral Harm: Making Sense Of Reproductive Violence In South Africa’S Genocide Case Against Israel, Heidi Matthews

Articles & Book Chapters

Abstract In its genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, South Africa alleges that, in the period since October 7, 2023, Israel has imposed measures intended to prevent births within the Palestinian group in Gaza. To the extent that South Africa’s case for ‘preventing births’ relies on the traditional framing of reproductive justice, wherein violations are conceptualized in terms of restrictions on reproductive (read: women’s) health and capacity, it risks advancing the human rights of ‘women and children’ at the expense of a more progressive development of the law of genocide. This article uses the ongoing genocidal …

Atrocity Prevention In The New Media Landscape, Rebecca Hamilton

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

Journalists have traditionally played a crucial role in building public pressure on government officials to uphold their legal obligations under the 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide. But over the past twenty years there has been radical change in the media landscape: foreign bureaus have been shuttered, young freelance journalists have taken over some of the work traditionally done by experienced foreign correspondents, and, more recently, the advent of social media has enabled people in conflict-affected areas to tell their own stories to the world. This essay assesses the impact of these changes on atrocity prevention …

The Failure Of International Law In Palestine, Svetlana Sumina, Steven Gilmore

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract forthcoming

Talking Foreign Policy: Jesner V. Arab Bank, Milena Sterio, Thomas Buergenthal, Carsten Stahn, Avidan Cover, Timothy Webster, Michael P. Scharf

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

Talking Foreign Policy is a one-hour radio program, hosted by Case Western Reserve University School of Law Co-Dean Michael Scharf, in which experts discuss the salient foreign policy issues of the day. Dean Scharf created Talking Foreign Policy to break down complex foreign policy topics that are prominent in the day-to-day news cycles yet difficult to understand.

This broadcast featured:

• Judge Thomas Buergenthal, the youngest survivor of the Auschwitz death camp, who went on to become the Dean of American University Law School, to serve for twelve years as a judge on the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, and then …

Between Light And Shadow: The International Law Against Genocide In The International Court Of Justice’S Judgement In Croatia V. Serbia (2015), Ines Gillich

Pace International Law Review

This Article identifies and critically analyzes the contributions the International Court of Justice (ICJ) made to the international law against genocide via the judgment in Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Croatia v. Serbia) of February 3, 2015. This Article elaborates on the concept of genocide—a term that has originally been coined after the Armenian Genocide and the Holocaust—and the protection against this “crime of crimes” under international law. The analysis section of this Article refers to the historical and procedural context of the dispute between Croatia and Serbia in the case, …

Child Marriage In Yemen: A Violation Of International Law, Elizabeth Verner

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

The International Court And South West Africa: Latest Phase, Antony J.M. Zuijdwijk

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Discussion On The Control And Sale Of Arms, Henry C. Lauerman, Robert E. Clute

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Custom's Method And Process: Lessons From Humanitarian Law, Monica Hakimi

Book Chapters

A central question in the literature on customary international law (CIL) goes to method: what is the proper method for "finding" CIL - that is, for determining that particular norms qualify as ClL? The traditional method is to identify a widespread state practice, plus evidence that states believe that the practice reflects the law (opinio juris). That method has long been criticized as incoherent, unworkable, and out of touch with modern sensibilities. Thus, much of the CIL literature addresses its perceived problems. The principal goals of this literature are to help resolve whether norms that are claimed to be CIL …

Is The International Court Of Justice Worth The Effort?, Joseph L. Daly

Akron Law Review

Throughout history most peacemaking has been a response to a particular crisis - efforts of two countries to solve a dispute by treaty or to negotiate the end of a war. But as the instruments of war have become more and more horrible, as wars have come to take an ever increasing toll on civilian populations, world leaders have tried to establish a structure for peace, a permanent way of avoiding conflict by appealing to reason, not to weapons. Our century has hoped that some sort of international tribunal - a world court - would decide disputes on enduring principles …

Interim Measures In Inter-State Proceedings Before The European Court Of Human Rights: Ukraine V. Russia, Stefan Kirchner

University of Baltimore Journal of International Law

Over the course of the year 2014, the situation in Ukraine has turned from a domestic political issue involving protests, killings, and the ouster of the former president, into a military confrontation with Russia. At the time of writing (August 2014), Russia has annexed Crimea and is supporting separatists, who are in a state of civil war against the Ukrainian state, in Eastern parts of the country. This conflict is ongoing and an unknown number of civilians have been killed, notably the passengers of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, which is thought to have been shot down over the conflict …

Cyber War And International Law: Does The International Legal Process Constitute A Threat To U.S. Vital Interests?, John F. Murphy

International Law Studies

No abstract provided.

Territorial Sovereignty And Neutrality In Cyberspace, Wolff Heintschel Von Heinegg

International Law Studies

No abstract provided.

The Law Of State Responsibility In Relation To Border Crossings: An Ignored Legal Paradigm, Louise Arimatsu

International Law Studies

No abstract provided.

The Sum Of The Parts, Therese O'Donnell

Human Rights & Human Welfare

From one perspective the Middle East lends itself as a macabre mise-en-scene where the triumph of realpolitik over the legitimacies of international law can be continually re-staged. To be sure, at least two sovereign states seem to go their own way, even in the face of rampant and valid international criticism—the end of a construction freeze on illegal settlements and failures to condemn clearly illustrate this point. However, two can play at that game. The US veto of the October 2003 draft Security Council resolution declaring as illegal Israel’s construction of its security fence, beyond the 1949 Green Line and …

Low-Intensity Computer Network Attack And Self-Defense, Sean Watts

International Law Studies

No abstract provided.

Direct Participation In Hostilities And The Interoperability Of The Law Of Armed Conflict And Human Rights Law, Francoise J. Hampson

International Law Studies

No abstract provided.

Occupation In Iraq: Issues On The Periphery And For The Future: A Rubik's Cube Problem?, George K. Walker

International Law Studies

No abstract provided.

The International Humanitarian Law Classification Of Armed Conflicts In Iraq Since 2003, David Turns

International Law Studies

No abstract provided.

The Dark Sides Of Convergence: A Pro-Civilian Critique Of The Extraterritorial Application Of Human Rights Law In Armed Conflict, Naz K. Modirzadeh

International Law Studies

No abstract provided.

The International Legality Of Us Military Cross-Border Operations From Afghanistan Into Pakistan, Sean D. Murphy

International Law Studies

No abstract provided.

The International Legal Framework For Stability Operations: When May International Forces Attack Or Detain Someone In Afghanistan?, Marco Sassoli

International Law Studies

No abstract provided.

Bosnia V. Serbia: Lessons From The Encounter Of The International Court Of Justice With The International Criminal Tribunal For The Former Yugoslavia, Rebecca Hamilton, Richard J. Goldstone

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

This article uses the recent judgment of the ICJ in Bosnia v. Serbia to highlight the potential problems that arise when international courts have to adjudicate on overlapping situations. It describes the dispute between the ICJ and the ICTY on the appropriate legal standard for the attribution of state responsibility, and finds that the ICJ’s approach in this case suggests that those keen to minimize the fragmentation of international law between adjudicative bodies should not overlook the need for consistency within those bodies.With regard to fact finding, this article raises serious concerns about the manner in which the ICJ relied …

International Myopia: Hamdan's Shortcut To "Victory", Michael W. Lewis

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

War, Technology, And The Law Of Armed Conflict, Michael N. Schmitt

International Law Studies

No abstract provided.

The Prohibition Of Widespread Rape As A Jus Cogens, Dean Adams

San Diego International Law Journal

This Comment explains why the prohibition of widespread rape should be recognized as a jus cogens through analyses of the failure of existing international legal instruments, advances within international law towards the universal prohibition of widespread rape, and policy reasons for classifying widespread rape as a jus cogens. In doing so, this comment will demonstrate the particular timeliness of this topic by reviewing the use of widespread rape in several countries through the 1990s, the widespread rape presently occurring in Kenya, and the emerging reports from Iraq of rape committed at the hands of the Saddam Hussein regime. Finally, this …

Independent Study On Best Practices, Including Recommendations, To Assist States In Strengthening Their Domestic Capacity To Combat All Aspects Of Impunity, By Professor Diane Orentlicher, Diane Orentlicher

Research Reports & White Papers

Transmits: Independent study on best practices, including recommendations, to assist States in strengthening their domestic capacity to combat all aspects of impunity / by Diane Orentlicher.

Chapter Iv: Contemporary Case Studies Of United Statesforcible Protection Of Nationals Abroad

International Law Studies

No abstract provided.